Free E-Prescribing: What They’re Not Telling You

August 15th, 2016

Electronic prescribing solutions are supposed to improve patient care and save practice’s time. All too often we receive calls from physicians using a free electronic prescribing solution, complaining that the ePrescriber they've selected is actually slowing down the transmission of prescriptions. Choosing a cost-effective ePrescriber is smart, but it is imperative to understand the distinction between cost-effective and “free”. Choosing the right software solution for your practice is critical because the wrong solution can drain your financial resources, serve as a barrier to adoption by your physicians, nurses, and staff, and ultimately hinder your ability to provide the best patient care possible.

When determining which solution is right for you, think beyond the initial cost of ePrescribing and ask yourself the following the questions:

Does the vendor supplying the “free” ePrescribing software offer ongoing, live technical support at no cost?

Does the ePrescribing vendor provide training to physicians, nurses, and staff at no cost?

What is the cost to enroll and train new providers to the practice’s care team?

Is there a cost when new product features and enhancements are launched?

Does the vendor offer a free upload of patient demographics into the ePrescribing system to reduce the need for manual data entry?

Understand, healthcare technology is an expensive industry, and revenue is required for any ePrescribing vendor to survive and compete in the marketplace. While ePrescribing software may be provided by a vendor at no cost, it is likely that you may be expected to cover many other costs, such as support and training costs.

Not only can unexpected costs arise as the result of selecting a free ePrescriber, but poorly designed ePrescribers can drain practices of one of their most valuable resources, time. Time wasted on ePrescribing software that lacks intuition and is clunky to operate is not only frustrating, but it can significantly reduce the number of patients your practice can see each day. This not only reduces a practice’s revenue, but it can also disrupt your ability to provide quality patient care.

So, why pay for an ePrescriber?

At RxNT, we have spent the time (over 17 years to be exact) to design a streamlined solution tailored to meet the needs of our physicians. It is our policy to listen to all customer feedback to continually improve customer workflow. Cloud-based technology allows RxNT to push automatic updates for all customer accounts at no cost. Unlimited training and support is standard with all of our solutions and is included at no additional cost to our customers. This includes live telephone and email support and training Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm ET and 24/7 critical support. A well designed ePrescriber and a knowledgeable support and training team can not only save your practice time, but can also help facilitate better patient care. More benefits of ePrescribing can be found here.